Kingdom Hearts: Itani's Story
by Vampire Hooker
Summary: Well this is my first fanfic  - ; off from the game kingdom hearts. uhmm... I don't know what else to say really. I appreciate any comments and feedback, as well as gramatic corrections. This is the first chapter of MANY, so I hope you injoy!


**Kingdom Hearts: Itani's Story**

**Chapter 1**

"She's a good subject" "I cannot believe she…" "But no, she…."

"Itaannn…." Ominous voices faded to dark.

"Itani…." … "Eeetaaahnnn….." … "ITANI!" a boy yelled. "Whoa! What?" "It's about time!" the boy said, standing over the girl laying on the rooftop. "Sora? Whaaaat?" the girl whined. "You forget we're in a competition with Riku? Kairi dropped out." The boy, Sora, said. The girl stood up. She was Itani - a teen with emerald green eyes and long, brown hair. One long braid fell over her left shoulder. Sora was a teen of the same age, about 16. He had short spikey brown hair and usually wore red clothing. "Riku's being a jerk, getting all caught up in his 'I'm the best, you all suck, I love Kairi blahhblahh' attitude. Hah! We'll beat him, right Itani?" Sora boasted. "Uhh. Yeah, sure." Itani said half heartedly. "Aw, Come on! Please!" Sora begged. "But I didn't…" Itani started, before getting interrupted by Sora. "You know, you're really pretty good at fighting when you get into it, but sometimes it's like you couldn't even hurt a fly! What's up with that? You're so weird." Sora went on. The two had started walking, and had jumped off the rooftop and down to a sandy shore. The sun was sinking into the horizon, into the ocean. "It wasn't today, was it?" Itani asked. Sora fumbled a little. "Well, no… but I thought, well, sure I love lazy days as much as the next guy but… well, we need the practice!" Itani sighed. Since they had become teenagers, Sora had been like this. She sat down in the sand and took a handful of sand and watched intently as it slipped away between her fingers. She thought aloud. "It reminds me of something Riku once said…. About there being other worlds, maybe even with beaches like this one…. How many worlds are out there? And if there are other worlds…" "You wonder where you and Kairi came from, right." Sora finished. "Yeah…" She trailed. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "It's like…. If I'm not from here, why can't I go home?" "I don't know." Sora said.

Itani stood and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt on. She turned to Sora. "Hah, well it's nothing, sorry if I worried you." "Eh, I figured you were fine." He smiled. He ran at Itani and attempted to tackle her, but she jumped over him and shoved his head into the sand as he fell. "Dang it!" Sora yelled from the sand. "Hah, see, give up?" Itani boasted. "See! Look at this! You thug! Haha. It's like you're so much more fun at night, what's up with you?" "I dunno. I slept all day. That's why." Itani said. "Whatever, you say that every day. What is it really?" Sora pressed. "I don't know." She helped him up and the two continued walking. Sora put his arms up behind his head and Itani put her hands in her pockets. "Riku's here somewhere, right?" Itani asked. "Yeah." Sora grunted. "Where?" She asked. Sora thought. "I dunno, maybe at The Box?" "Oh, well yeah, maybe, the lights are on." The two walked around the courner down an alley to the open door where the light seeped out of. There they saw Riku using the weight set, shirtless. He stopped when he noticed they were there. "Why are you here?" Riku stared down to Itani. "We saw the light on. Why are you here?" Sora said. "Yeah, is Kairi on her per….." Itani started to say. "OH SHUT UP!" Riku yelled, swinging at her. She stepped back and dodged his punch. Things were very silent for a moment. "I think she was kidding, man." He said to Riku. "Doesn't matter, the freak doesn't need to be here." Riku again glared to Itani. She just stood silently. "Hey, leave her alone." Sora said. "Why? You think she's cool or something? Strong, nice, pretty?" Riku crudely went on, not giving Sora a chance to speak. "Uh forget it, I'll just leave." Itani said, as she turned to leave. She started at a jog down the alley and down to the street. Sora just stood there, eyes locked with Riku. "She's not all that bad, y'know." Sora said. "Yeah, I know, we're friends remember?" Riku said. "But she told me…" Sora trailed. "Huh?" Riku said, almost sounding suprised. Riku, The silver haired boy with piercing mako-turquoise eyes, eyes that pierced through Sora. He sighed. "Well, she said you were closer before… and then she gets all mad and upset about it. What happe…." Sora didn't even finish before the loud clash of metal trash cans broke his sentence. Riku quickly walked to the door, not even bothering to put his shirt on. "She better not've…" He said quietly. Sora followed Riku as he walked down the alley. "Riku, what do you think that wa…" "Shh!" Riku stopped him. They followed the noise down to another alleyway. At the end of the alley was a figure cast in the shadows. It was smaller than the two boys, and its face was hidden by a hood. It appeared as if it had a… tail? It made a terrible screeching noise before it jumped clear over the wall of the alley. "There it is again!" Riku said. "What the he…." Sora started to say, and was again interrupted. This time by a bright flash down the street. Riku took off running in the direction of the flash, and Sora followed. As they were running, all the street lights in the town went out. A strange wind picked up.

Although Riku couldn't see, he knew someone had run past him. "GET BACK HERE!" he yelled, and ran after the figure. Sora trailed behind them. They ran in and out of many alleyways before Riku finally caught up with the figure and tackled it. He yanked back the hood, only to see a black skull with long black hair and glowing yellow eyes - cackling. It turned to black fog and disappeared. As soon as that happened, all the lights in the town came back on. Riku shook his head and stood. "That wasn't her…" He said. Sora was puzzled. "What? Were you meaning Itani? Well yeah, she's not a demon thing." Sora said. Riku opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a scream. He turned. "Sora, go to The Box. Or, wait, just go home." He demanded. "WHAT? But..." "Just trust me ok?" Riku said, shoving him. "Ok…." He said, sulking off. Riku turned and ran towards the direction he heard the scream. It was down another alley, the one that lead to the ocean. On the ground lay a figure. Riku bent down. There was a puddle of blood. The figure had long hair, and a braid….. "Itani…. Not again…" Riku said quietly. He picked her up and carried her down to The Box. He set her down on the weight bench. He found some string and tied her hair back. "Those marks again…." He said to himself, observing her neck. He checked her for more serious wounds, of which he found none. He noticed it was getting late, and against his better judgment, decided to leave her there and head home. Itani, still alive, was deeply asleep.

She woke up a few hours later, now almost 5 a.m. She walked to the mirror hanging on the wall in the bathroom. "How did I get… OH MY GOD!" Itani panicked. She ran out of The Box and down to the ocean again. She hopped in a boat and rowed to Destiny Island. Once she got there she ran to a cove of trees and looked around. No other people were around. She went through and down to an area where the ground sunk in and a large steppe started. Her hidden cove. She ran through the door that led to a large opening in the wall and stumbled. She fell in front of a small pool of water. Crystal clear water. She leaned over and saw her reflection. "Those stitching - looking marks again… and that…." Itani stuttered to herself. She touched her face in the reflection in the water. Thin ripples moved out from under her fingertips.

"The time…." "It's coming….." "Our key…." "Itaannn….." voices echoed in her head. She quickly opened her eyes. A drop of blood dripped down her forehead and fell into the pool of water. The one drop of blood spread rapidly, turning the pool of crystal water into a dark red blood color, and then swirled into deeper purples and black. She flinched and jumped back, as she was overwhelmed with pain. Her neck, wrists, arms, thighs, and stomach were where it hurt the most- Where she had the mysterious stitching marks that intercepted. A shadowy hand reached out from the pool. Its' head could be seen. It had beady yellow eyes and was almost frog like. Itani screamed and ran out of the cave and shut the door right as the thing jumped to attack her. She could see the purplish black fog seeping out from under the door. "I've got to get out of here!" she yelled to herself, as she took off towards the beach and hopped back in the row boat. She managed to quickly get away from the island and back to shore. She headed straight for The Box. Sora and Riku were already there. "Itani!" Sora yelled when he recognized her. She flinched at his loud voice and stepped back. Riku just stared. "Sora…. Sora, I… I don't…."Itani started to fumble, but Riku stopped her. "Itani, you're fine." She blinked. "Huh?" she said, surprised. Her hands immediately went to her face. "A mirror! I need a mirror!" She said. Riku shrugged. "Maybe in your pocket?" he said. She reached in and pulled out her compact mirror. She opened it and gasped, dropping the mirror. It broke into several pieces. They all looked down. Each broken piece had what looked to be part of a symbol on it. "I have to fix it…." Itani said absentmindedly. She bent down and started rearranging the broken pieces. Once they were all together, they formed a picture of what looked like rose thorns intercepting in an X. The mirror flashed and Itani gasped as it faded away into nothing. Sora shook his head, confused. Itani looked up at Sora with big, almost apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry…" She said. Riku helped Itani to her feet again. "You need to go to the crystal pool." He said. "I already did, I…." "No, I mean the one on 5th street." Riku answered. "But I don't…." she started to say. "I'll take her." Sora voluteered, taking Itani's hand and starting for the door. "Sora, please, don't get caught in this." Riku said annoyed. "Oh Riku, come on! We're freaking 16! Stop treating me like we're still little kids! You aren't "all that" anymore! You aren't everyone's big protector, so let it go. I have no idea what's going on, but I want to help! This is obviously important and so far it's the only thing you've said that I actually understand. 5th street, near Main Street, at the fountain pool. I Got it. Don't worry about it!" Sora went off. "It's not you I'm worried about!" Riku yelled back at him, as if he hadn't just heard Sora pour his heart out. Itani was getting annoyed. "Riku…." She growled. Riku sighed. "Just go." He said, waving Sora out the door.

The two took off through the town. About half way there Itani slowed to a stop. "Itani…? What's wrong..?" Sora asked, concerned. She looked up at him. "I just feel like…. I should tell you what's going on…" She said quietly. "You know I ended up here 7 years ago. Riku was the first one who found me on Destiny Island. I was in a cave, by a crystal clear spring pool. I was asleep in a puddle of blood…. And…." She paused for a second as she rolled up her under armor and unzipped the knee zippers on her pants. "And there were these marks…. He said they were bleeding…." Sora looked closely at the strange marks on her arms, marks he had never seen or heard about in his 7 years of knowing her. "Hey wait, those marks…. They look like these marks I saw on this thing… me and Riku chased it down an alleyway…" Itani nodded. "Yeah… Riku has seen things like that before. He calls them Heartless… and he's been trying to figure out…" "If you're one too…" Sora finished her thought. She nodded. "But, I mean, I can't be! I'm real! I'm…. REAL…." She trailed. It was silent for a moment. "We think I'm under some curse or something." She broke the silence. "Well that means you'll be ok then." Sora said wishfully. He took her hand and continued walking. "I have faith in you, yknow. Anything you've ever tried you always pulled through. Like, how you even beat Riku in a fight! That's pretty amazing." "Well….heh, maybe…" Itani said flustered. "No, not maybe. Hells yeah." Sora said happily, as they arrived at the town square. The whole Square is quiet, and Itani let go of his hand. "…..Go back." She said quietly. "What? Why?" "This is bigger than you think… Please Sora. I don't want to see you become like me and Ri…." A roll of thunder clashed in the distance. A lightning bolt struck off on the horizon. Itani took a step back from Sora as a wind picked up. "They come…." She said distantly. Sora quickly turned to the direction of the beach to see black frog like creatures rising out of the sea, like a giant wave. Itani closed her eyes for a brief moment and then jumped to grab the rooftop of a nearby building. She back flipped from there and landed on the roof, her shadow cast down by the moonlight. The frogs followed her movement with big, yellow eyes and proceeded to follow her. She sprinted off across the rooftop. "Heartless!" Sora yelled. He reached in his pocket and pulled out something. He flicked his wrist to reveal a shiny switchblade. In one slice he cut through three frogs, watching them tremor and fall to black dust. He looked back up to the rooftop and saw Itani's figure dancing around, punching and kicking at the hundreds of frog like creatures around her. All at once the frogs jumped and attacked her and she fell under their wave. Sora cringed at seeing this, almost feeling the pain from the weight of all those creatures crushing down on her. He threw his blade at the mass of creatures. It sliced through at least ten of them, giving her just enough room to free an arm and grab the switchblade as it slid to her. But it was no use. The slowly rising moon meant hours of darkness, and the shadows only multiplied in the night. Sora yelled out to Itani in a panic. "IIITTTAANNNIII!" and with that, she was gone. The shadow creatures amassed her and swallowed her up into darkness. It almost gave the appearance of sinking through the roof. Sora ran into the building to check, but all the halls, all the rooms were empty. No 'Heartless', no Itani.

Sora ran back outside, and decided to run to The Box. "RIKU! They took Itani!" he yelled, running through the door. Riku, fully dressed for a change, looked as if he was about to leave. He had a strange blade slung across his back. It almost resembled a bat wing. "Goodbye Sora." He said. RIku began to walk towards the door. "He-hey, wait!" Sora said, following him. "The heartless aren't done yet, Sora. They'll take more and more. They need hearts. They made the mistake of taking Itani, and I'm going to get her back. I know how." "Well, where?" Sora spat out quickly. "You shouldn't come, it doesn't concern you." "I don't care! I'm….." he started to say, but he was interrupted by a girl's voice. "Sora! Riku!" a girl cried, running up to them. Another girl followed her. "Kairi…." Riku said in a sad tone. "What's going on?" the other girl protested. "Selphie, calm down, it's ok." Riku tried to reassure her. "Oh, is it?" Kairi yelled, looking Riku in the eye. Riku sighed. "Itani's gone. I'm going to find her." "Oooh, no you're not! Not in this weather, not now, and not ever again!" Kairi fumed. "Kairi, jeesh, why do you hate Itani so much? What the hell'd she ever do to you?" Sora was irritated with Kairi and her hostile attitude towards Itani. She was still a sweet girl, but there must have been some feud between them. "It's none of your business." Kairi spat out. "Yes it is! Why does it seem like there is so much about Itani that I don't know!" "You are not to know." Riku said absently. "And why not?" Sora crossed his arms. "For you are the Light boy." "What….?" "You are the Light boy, and she is not of the Light." Riku stated. "So it IS her!" Kairi yelled. Selphie was growing impatient. "Kairi, let's just go. She's gone now anyways." With that the two girls ran off. "I'm going to miss her…." Riku said in a low tone. "Sora grabbed Riku's shoulder. "Please Riku, please, take me with you. I need to get her back." Sora begged. "Why does she matter so much to you?" Riku asked. Sora stood quietly. "Look, I get it, you like her. But you can't go. Light and Dark cannot occupy the same space." And with that, a shadow appeared close to them that rose up as tall as Riku. "It is the end of the beginning." Riku said, and turned to walk into the shadow. Sora tackled Riku into the shadow and it swallowed them both whole.

All was left to silent, moonlight tranquility.


End file.
